Latest reporting from the Community desk.
Community
Lakota Local School District invites K-12 students, including home-schooled and private-school students within district boundaries, to enter its 28th annual MLK Day contest by 4 p.m. Nov. 23, with winners performing at a January community celebration.
Community
Reach Out Lakota reports a 22 percent increase in pantry visits as nearly 200 new families sought help in 2025, and Lakota Local Schools launches its 19th annual Stuff the Bus food drive running Oct. 12–23.
West Chester, OH
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Community
The West Chester/Liberty Chamber Alliance's Jingle Mingle returns to the Foundry at Liberty Center on Dec. 2 with free admission, holiday entertainment and table space for local businesses starting at $100.
Community
The 5th annual C3OHIO Firefighter Chili Cook-Off brings fire departments from multiple townships to Liberty Center on Sunday, Oct. 4, alongside Liberty Township's Spot-A-Truck event.
Community
Liberty Center in Liberty Township opens its Photos with Santa experience Nov. 20 through Dec. 24, with specialty events including a Sensory-Friendly Santa morning on Dec. 6 and three Monday Pet Photo Nights.
Community
The VOA Country Music Festival drew more than 100,000 fans to its final four-day run at West Chester Township's Voice of America MetroPark in August before the township ended its license agreement with organizers over billing disputes and capacity concerns.
Community
MidPointe Library is encouraging Butler County patrons to donate $9.25 on Friday, Sept. 25, for Give Like Dolly Day, a new annual fundraiser supporting the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program that delivers free books to more than 14,500 local children.
Community
The USS Cincinnati Peace Pavilion at VOA MetroPark in West Chester hosts a free Navy Week event Thursday, Sept. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring submarine tours led by about 20 local veterans, a Navy drill team, live music, a parachute jumper and STEM activities for families.
Community
Social studies teacher Jonathan Ferrell interviewed Plains Junior School staff who lived through Sept. 11, 2001, creating a documentary shown to students on the attacks' 25th anniversary, with one staffer recounting her search-and-rescue work at Ground Zero.
Community
Free fall events at Liberty Park, Keehner Park and Liberty Center headline a packed autumn lineup for West Chester and Liberty Township families, running from a craft show Sept. 19 through Monster Mash on Oct. 24.
Community
The Lakota East Athletic Boosters and cross country team host the annual T-Hawk Hustle 5K Run/Walk on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Lakota East High School, with a Thursday, Oct. 1 early-registration deadline for a free race shirt.
Community
Lakota West High School will host a free Future Firebird Night on Friday, Sept. 25, at Firebird Stadium in West Chester Township, with games, inflatables, face painting and a chance for K-6 students to walk the field before the varsity homecoming football game against Fairfield.
Community
Venus Rajnikant Patel, 45, who recently moved to Liberty Township to care for his aging parents, is among approximately 90 Americans still unaccounted for after catastrophic flooding struck Nepal's Rasuwa district on Aug. 26. Friends have launched a search effort, with one flying to Kathmandu.
Community
Lakota West High School's homecoming dance is scheduled for Sept. 26, with $20 tickets on sale starting Sept. 9.
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